Livongo Health, a consumer digital health company that is empowering people with chronic diseases to live better, announced today that it has secured $20 million in Series B funding from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), DFJ and previous investor General Catalyst. The funding will enable the company to further develop its chronic disease management ecosystem and accelerate the adoption of the company's digital diabetes management program, Livongo for Diabetes™, among self-insured employers, healthcare providers and payers. Dr. Beth Seidenberg, General Partner at KPCB, and Emily Melton, Partner at DFJ, will be joining Livongo Health's Board of Directors.
Since launching Livongo Health in September 2014, the company has received strong interest in the program and has signed agreements for employees of self-insured employers such as Office Depot, Iron Mountain and multiple Fortune 100 companies. Livongo Health also has agreements in place with large healthcare providers such as Mission Health System and HealthCare Partners, as well as some of the country's largest payers. The company recently completed a multi-year strategic agreement with Cerner, one of the leading health information technology companies, for integration and distribution to its client base.
"We are very pleased to receive the support and insight of some of Silicon Valley's premier healthcare investors," said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer at Livongo Health. "With thousands of people now using Livongo for Diabetes, it's clear that the best way for people to manage chronic diseases like diabetes is to empower them with real-time, personalized information about their condition. This information improves care, reduces costs, and enables people to focus on their lives and not their diseases."
"The Livongo platform is a powerful disease management ecosystem," said Dr. Beth Seidenberg, General Partner at KPCB. "Its ability to collect real-time biometric data, analyze it in the cloud and instantly push down guidance and support to the user is unique in diabetes management. Livongo Health is an important company in digital health that is poised to have a significant impact by taking on the diabetes epidemic and other chronic conditions."
"Feedback on the Livongo program from our employees has been phenomenal," said Scott Kirschner, Director of Benefits Strategy at Iron Mountain. "As a global company, we look for solutions that can meet the needs of our large, geographically dispersed workforce with wide-ranging health and wellness requirements. For our people with diabetes, we wanted a partner that could marry technology with a high human touch to help them and their physicians better manage their conditions, and that partner is Livongo. Livongo for Diabetes gets the right information and support to the user at the exact right moment in time. We believe it will help our employees and their families live healthier and longer lives, making them an ideal partner."
Livongo for Diabetes is the company's initial product offering and is targeted to people with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. It is the first diabetes management program that is completely mobile, digital and personalized to the user. It allows people with diabetes to effectively manage important aspects of their illness on their own. It also allows them to easily keep their family members and care team informed in real-time.
Each Livongo for Diabetes user receives the company's In Touch® blood glucose smartmeter, a proprietary mobile device that is the first cellular-enabled, two-way interactive blood glucose meter. The device captures a user's biometric data and uploads it to a cloud-based inference engine where historical data, clinical rules and predictive modeling are used to convert it into useable information and support that is instantly returned back to the person with diabetes. This data can also be shared with anyone in the user's family or care team, including a Livongo Certified Diabetes Educator, who can provide real-time feedback and assistance via push notification, text, email or phone. The Livongo program offers unlimited test strips at no extra charge and removes daily hassles like hand-written logbooks, having to connect a traditional glucose meter to a computer with a cable and re-ordering supplies.
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